ResearchSuccess

Joan Groessl

Fall 2012

"Moral Development and Social Worker Ethical Decision Making"

Grant in Aid of Research

Final Report: "The funds from the Research Council were used in the data collection and for a resource book that I used for analysis of the data for my doctoral dissertation. In total, 197 individuals completed at least a portion of the data from the on-line invitation resulting in 163 usable responses. Those field educators who were not social workers were removed from the analysis for my dissertation. Study results demonstrated that moral development levels differ between MSW and BSW level social workers but that there was no difference between congruence with the values of the profession between the two groups. There were also no statistically significant differences in terms of practice area on either score.
The funds offered by the Research Council were of benefit personally in regards to the expenditures for completing the study but also the additional resource book provided extensive detail that was helpful in my analysis. These results plus additional analysis I have yet to complete will serve as the foundation for one area of my scholarly research. I have been accepted to do a poster presentation at the Council on Social Work Education Conference in Dallas Tx in fall to present my research and will utilize my findings in my teaching of ethics in the social work curriculum and community settings."